Silo up

August 22 & August 23, 2003

Crew:  Terry DeFraties, Bill Gee, Rick Hines, Ron Lather, Jeff Page, Bill Pfantz, Danny Schupbach, Jim Schupbach

First let me start by thanking Danny and his brother Jim for their help.  Not only did they provide the crane truck that made it possible to get the silo erected in one day but the two of them could not have been more helpful.  They enthusiastically pitched in to assemble the heavy steel panels.  The obviously knew how to work with their hand, heavy tools and equipment to get the job done.  It was a pleasure working with them.  

I also wish to thank the CCC crew that showed up on a hot weekend for a demanding job.  You may thank them too some winter day when you come out of the cave and have a warm dry place to change clothes.  

After arriving at the backdoor about 6:30 PM Terry, Bill G, Rick, Jeff and Bill P emptied and started dismantling the old storage silo.  All the stuff inside the silo was moved out and all the lumber, steel and shingles stacked outside was moved back to prepare for dismantling the silo.  All went well until Bill P encountered a skunk living under the shingles.  They were both a little shaken, Bill more so than the skunk, as they ran off in opposite directions to safety.  The roof panels were laid out on the ground like a giant pizza and the wall panels were unbolted and folded back to the ground like petals of a large flower, all to maintain their relative position for reassembly Saturday.  With the sun down, we were off to town for a Mexican dinner.

We had two wall panels bolted together when Danny and his brother Jim arrived Saturday morning driving a large boom truck.  We quickly concluded that it would be possible to assemble the entire top section of the silo and roof on the ground and then pick up the entire assembly and place it on top of the existing silo section previously assembled on the concrete pad over the back door.

We assembled the 10 wall panels with gaskets and all the bolts.  The gaskets will allow us, with minor modifications, to make the completed silo nearly air tight.  The crane came in handy placing a heavy beam across the top of the 16 foot diameter by 8 foot tall ring.  With the beam in place we started assembling the roof panels.  Again, all the pieces were bolted together with gaskets and/or silicone rubber to make an airtight assembly.  A little more silicon rubber will be required.  Again, the crane came in handy to pull bent pieces into shape and to torque the assembly to get bolt holes to line up. 

With Danny at the controls the crane effortlessly picked up the 3000 lb assembly and swung it into position over the base section.  With Danny balancing the load we got the first bolt set.  After a lot of prying, wedging and work, and 300 bolts later the two sections were one. 

The last job for the crane was to load the old compressor on to the truck.  The old compressor served us well but now we needed to get rid of it so we can finish the cleanup of dig material, steel and tools we no longer need. 

We had planned to get Danny and Jim into the cave for a trip to Thunder falls but we worked them too hard and too long that day and they concluded that the cave trip would have to be postponed to another day.  I tried to pay Danny a token amount for the use of the boom truck but as usual he refused any payment for his help.   

It was a long, hot, hard day for all.  The CCC crew is extremely thankful to Danny and Jim for providing the crane.  It is hard to imagine how much harder it would have been to build scaffolding and try to raise and bolt the panels into position 8 to 16 feet above the ground.  Thanks to the Schupbach brothers. 

Please consider signing up for the next work weekend, September 27 when we will continue working on the silo and cleaning up the grounds.  We could use electricians and welders on the 27th.  Call or email to signup.  

Rick Hines   913 897 4258